Public Service Provision in Kazakhstan: Challenges to Procedural Fairness

Abstract

Since Kazakhstan declared its independence in 1991, the organisational culture of the country’s public administration and civil service has been and still is orientated towards achieving outcomes, while citizens are viewed as consumers of public goods and services. This is also observed in government reports that confirm the focus on outcomes achieved by individual public administration agencies and the national government. This creates the perception that the administrative bodies are transparent and controlled by the citizens. Nonetheless, performance reports lack information on how outcomes have been achieved and on what happens when citizens appeal decisions. This pattern of public service delivery has been evolving into a public administration paradigm according to which the outcome is more important than the process. Such a focus creates conditions under which delivering public services could become a “box ticking” exercise, while the lack of attention to procedural fairness and transparency reduces citizens’ chances of receiving appropriate consideration of their requests. The chapter argues that the focus on outcomes and the treatment of citizens as consumers of public services effectively override the public officials’ duty to uphold procedural fairness. It further argues that the existing public administration paradigm needs to shift to ensure fairness and transparency.